Spiral binder applying machine



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BY M p p A441 4 FNL'IVS.

United States Patent Eco 3,407,851 Patented Oct. 29, 1968 3,407,851 SPIRAL BINDER APPLYING MACHINE Claus Ostermeier, Post Geisenfeld, Upper Bavaria, Germany, assignor to Hans Sickinger Co., West Bloomfield Township, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Filed Oct. 23, 1965, Ser. No. 503,704 18 Claims. (Cl. 140-9293) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A machine for the coiling and application of spiral binders to packs of sheets. Such machine featuring guide rollers adjustably mounted adjacent the binding station, a binder coiling tool adjustable along a path at right angles to the axes of the guide rollers, and a pair of knife assemblies to sever the spiral binder at each end of the pack of sheets.

This invention relates to spiral binder applying machines, and more particularly to an apparatus for inserting a spiral wire binder in packs of sheets and covers having perforated edges.

It is an object of the invention to provide a novel and improved machine of this type which greatly reduces the time required for adjusting the machine for different diameters of spirals, thus speeding up production of different book sizes.

It is another object to provide an improved apparatus of this nature which includes means for adjusting the guide rollers to accommodate different spiral helix angles.

It is a further object to provide an improved spiral binder applying machine having these characteristics, which incorporates novel means for advancing and retracting the guide rollers and for adjusting their guide positions.

It is another object to provide an improved machine of this character which has simplified knife actuating means permitting simultaneous adjustment of the cutting positions of both knives.

It is a further object to provide an improved apparatus of this nature which minimizes the possibility of wire jamming during operation and permits the relief of momen tarily jammed Wires.

It is also an object to provide an improved spiral wire binder apparatus of this character which includes novel means for clamping the hooks which support the packs of sheets and covers.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of the apparatus, parts being broken away;

FIGURE 2 is a front elevational view taken in the direction of the arrow 2 of FIGURE 1, parts being sectioned and the knife actuating mechanism being removed for clarity;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of the machine taken in the direction of the arrow 3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is an elevational View in cross-section taken along the line 4-4 of FIGURE 2 and showing the manner of adjusting the coiling tool body;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view in elevation taken along the line 5-5 of FIGURE 2 and showing the means for actuating and limiting the movement of the guide rollers;

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary cross-sectiona1 view taken along the line 66 of FIGURE 2, the guide rollers being removed, and showing the construction of the hook clamping means as well as the knife support and actuating means;

FIGURE 7 is a front elevational view of a knife mechanism taken in the direction of the arrow 7 of FIGURE 6;

FIGURE 8 is a perspective view of one of the page supporting hooks;

FIGURE 9 is a cross-sectional view in elevation taken along the line 99 of FIGURE 2 and further showing the means for actuating the knives;

FIGURE 10 is an enlarged detail view of a portion of one of the guide rollers showing a longitudinal slot formed therein;

FIGURE 11 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 11-11 of FIGURE 10 and showing further the construction of the slot; and

FIGURE 12 is a schematic view showing the relative positions of the guide rollers and wire for two different wire spiral diameters.

Briefly, the illustrated embodiment of the invention comprises a frame with left and right upright side plates which support the main components of the apparatus. The left hand side plate carries a coiling too'l body, and means are provided for adjusting this body along a path which is inclined about 20 from the vertical. The coiling tool supported by the body is adapted to receive wire fed to it from a spool and form this wire into a spiral binder. A pair of hooks are mounted at a binding station in alignment with the coiling tool, these hooks being adapted to support a pack of sheets and covers which are to be bound.

Three guider rollers are provided for leading the spiral wire through the holes in the sheets and covers. These guide rollers comprise an upper roller and forward and rear rollers. Each of the guide rollers has a series of equidistantly spaced circumferentially extending grooves, and at "least one of the guide rollers has a longitudinal slot which provides intermittent momentary relief for the wire as the guide rollers rotate, thus minimizing the possibility of jamming.

The forward and rear guide rollers are rotatably carried by arms which are swingably mounted on a common supporting shaft for movement in opposite directions. Each arm carries an adjustable cam follower screw, and an actuating cam is disposed between these screws. The cam is intermittently rotated in increments, thus successively retracting and advancing the forward and rear guide rollers with respect to binding station.

Because of the novel adjustable supporting means for the coiling tool, it is only necessary to radially and axially adjust the operating positions of the forward and rear guide rollers, thus greatly simplifying the guide roller adjusting mechanism. This mechanism comprises a pair of adjusting nuts threadably mounted on the supporting shaft for the forward and rear guide roller brackets, these nuts being rotatably but nonslidably connected to their respective arms. The upper guide roller is rotatably supported by a separate plate which is adjustably secured to the forward guide roller supporting arm.

vThe knife assembly comprises a pair of knife actuating arms which are secured to a shaft at; the two cutting stations adjacent the ends of the binding station. The shaft is periodically rocked by a gear driven cam. The drive for this cam is interconnected with the drive for the guide roller actuating cam, the combined drive means. being intermittently rotated through a clutch-and-brake mechanism. Each time the gear drive is rotated, the guide roller actuating cam will rotate 90 while the knife actuating cam will rotate The arrangement is such that during a first rotation of the drive means, the guide rollers will be advanced to their guide positions but the knives will not be actuated. After the spiral wire has been fed into the holes, a second rotation of the cam driving means will cause the guide rollers to be retracted and the knives to be actuated.

Each of the two knife mechanisms is secured to one end of a knife supporting arm, the other end of which is pivoted to its respective knife actuating arm. Each knife mechanism comprises a fixed blade and a movable blade having a scissors-like relationship, the movable blade having an arm with a roller disposed in an inclined slot on the knife actuating arm. An eccentrically mounted stop bar extends across the machine and under both knife supporting arms.

The height of this eccentrically mounted bar may be varied, so that the point at which the knife supporting arms engage the stop may be preselected for different spiral diameters. The simultaneous engagement of the knife supporting arms with the stop will cause these arms to pivot, camming the movable knife blades by virtue of the fact that the knife actuating arms will continue their movement. This will cause simultaneous cutting of both ends of the wire.

The position of the are through which the knives move during their cutting stroke can be preselected by means which includes two parallel arms, one of them being secured to the rocking shaft and the other rotatably mounted thereon. The arm which is rotatably mounted on the rocking shaft is actuated by the knife actuating cam, and the arms are connected by an adjusting screw of variable length.

The binding station hooks are mounted on clamping blocks, each block having a forwardly and upwardly inclined upper surface which supports a fiat clamping portion on the hook. A clamp is pivotally mounted on the rear portion of each block and carries a tightening screw which engages the rear of the block to cause rotation of the clamping block so as to clamp the hook in place. The clamping portion of each hook has an elongated slot for the reception of a guide pin, and the positions of the hooks for various hook sizes may thus be easily pre-selected. The clamping blocks are mounted on a track which permits their adjustment in a longitudinal direction.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the machine comprises a frame generally indicated at 21, the lower end (not shown) of this frame having a base by means of which it may be supported on the floor. Frame 21 has a pair of upright frame plates, the left hand plate being indicated at 22 and the right hand plate at 23. These plates are secured together by appropriate cross members such as the rear member 24 indicated in FIG- URE 1 and the tie rod 25 surrounded by spacer 26, as seen in FIGURES i and 4. A wire guide tube 27 is secured to the upper portion of frame 21 adjacent the left hand end thereof, this tube being horizontally disposed and being adapted to guide a wire 28 that is fed from a spool (not shown) to the rear of the machine. Wire 28 is secured to plate 22 forwardly of tube 27 and aligned therewith. From pulley 29 the wire is led downwardly toward a wire coiling tool generally indicated at 31 and seen in FIGURE 2.

Coiling tool 31 is of conventional construction and need not be described in detail. A number of interchangeable coiling tools are provided for different spiral diameters, and the coiling tool is removably mounted on a coiling tool body 32 by means of a knurled nut 33. The coiling tool has a mandrel 34 surrounded by a slotted member 35 the wire entering the slotted member at the left hand end thereof, and being coiled by the mandrel, exiting at the right hand end of the tool, as seen in FIG- URE 2, in the form of a spiral wire which, as it turns, will pass successively through the series of holes in the pack of sheets and covers which are held in place in alignment therewith by means described below.

In accordance with the invention, coiling tool body 32 is provided with a flange 36 at the end opposite that which supports tool 31. Arbor 37 of the body, which drives mandrel 34, extends to the left of llangc 36 and carries a pulley 38. Flange 36 is fixed to a mounting plate 39, as seen in FIGURE 4. Mounting plate 39 is of elongated shape and has a flat surface which rests against the forward portion of frame plate 22. A pair of set screws 41 and 42, seen in FIGURE 3, are threadably mounted in apertures 43 and 44 respectively, of plate 39. The heads of these bolts are on the outside of plate 22, the bolts passing through elongated slots 45 and 46 in plate 22 on opposite sides of a clearance hole 47 in plate 22 which accommodates arbor 37.

Slots 45 and 46 have a common axis which also passes through the axis of arbor 37 and is inclined upwardly and forwardly, that is, clockwise from the vertical, as seen in FIGURE 3. In the illustrated embodiment, the inclination of the axis of slots 45 and 46 from the vertical is about 15. The slots are of sufiicient length to permit adjustment of coiling tool body 32 to any one of an infinite number of positions within the limits defined by the lengths of the slots. To aid in this adjustment, an adjusting screw 48 is provided, as seen in FIGURE 4. This has a portion 49 rotatably mounted on an extension 51 secured to plate 22, and a threaded portion 53 mounted in an extension 54 at the upper end of plate 39. When screws 41 and 42 are loosened, rotation of screw 48 will result in adjustment of coiling tool body 32, so that the axis of arbor 37 will travel along the line indicated at 55 in the schematic showing of FIGURE 12. When the desired position of body 32 has been achieved, it may be locked in place by tightening screws 41 and 42.

An electric motor 56 is mounted on the outside of the upper portion of plate 22 and has a shaft 57 extending through this frame plate, a pair of pulleys 58 and 59 being secured to the shaft. A clearance opening 60 is provided in plate 22 for permitting adjustment of the motor position. A pulley 61 is connected by a belt 62 to pulley 58 and is therefore driven thereby. Pulley 61 is secured to a shaft 63 which drives one element (not shown) of a selectively actuatable clutch 64 secured to the inside of plate 22. The output shaft 65 of clutch 64 carries a pulley 66, this pulley driving pulley 38 through a belt 67. A takeup roller 68 is provided for tensioning belt 67, this roller being mounted on a bell crank 69 which is pivoted at 71 to plate 22. A helical coil tension spring 72 is connected between plate 22 and bell crank 69 to urge roller 68 against belt 67.

The work to be bound is indicated in FIGURE 6 as comprising a pair of covers 73 and 74 and a plurality of sheets 75 disposed between the covers. The covers and sheets have a series of aligned holes, and a pair of hooks, indicated at 76, pass through these holes at the opposite ends of the sheets and covers. The pack of sheets and covers is indicated generally at 77.

The construction of each hook 76 is seen best in FIG- URE 8, the hook comprising a flat clamping portion 78 and a pack supporting portion 79. An elongated slot 81 is formed in clamping portion 78.

A clamp supporting track 82 extends between plates 22 and 23 and supports a pair of hook supporting blocks 83 and 84, as seen in FIGURE 4. Blocks 83 and 84 are each secured to track 82 by a screw 85, this screw passing through an elongated slot 86 in the track so that blocks 83 and 84 may be adjusted longitudinally in accordance with the length of the book.

Each block 83 has an upper inclined surface 87 and a guide pin 88 extending upwardly and rearwardly therefrom. A clamping block 89 is pivoted at 91 to the rear portion of each block 83 and 84, its lower portion carrying a tightening screw 92 which is threadably mounted therein and engages the rear face of the block. The upper end of clamp 89 has an inclined surface which is complementary to surface 87 and has a slot for accommodating pin 88. By placing the clamping portion 78 of hook 76 on surface 87, with pin 88 passing through slot 81, the hook may be secured in place by turning screw 92 so as to urge clamp 89 to counterclockwise in FIGURE 6.

The height and lateral location of each hook 76 may thus be preselected by adjusting the hook on its supporting surface 87.

A backup or stop plate 93 is secured to track 82 along almost its entire length and extends upwardly therefrom, in front of and between blocks 83 and 84. The purpose of plate 93 is to support pack 77 firmly in position, the pack being urged against stop plate 93 by a clamping plate 94, the support for which is later described below.

The binding station is surrounded by three guide rollers which serve to feed the spiral wire through the successive holes in the pack of sheets and covers and to maintain proper positioning of the wire during its feeding movement. The three guide rollers are designated as an upper guide roller 95, a forward g-uide roller 96 and a rear guide roller 97. The relative positions of these guide rollers are perhaps best seen in FIGURE 12, wherein it will be observed that the forward and rear guide rollers are spaced horizontally from each other and are on opposite sides of wire 28, while upper guide roller 95 is above wire 28.

All three guide rollers extend the full length of the pack and are rotatably supported at their right hand ends, so that they extend leftwardly as seen in FIGURES l and 2, in cantilever fashion from their supporting portions. Forward guide roller 96 is supported by arm 98, while rear guide roller 97 is supported by arm 99; these arms are seen in FIGURES 1, 2 and 5. The two guide roller supporting arms 98 and 99 are of similar shape, each arm having a split upper portion rockably mounted on a stub shaft 101. The split upper portions of the two arms interfit with each other, as seen in FIGURE 2, shaft 101 being secured at its right hand end to frame plate 23 a substantial distance above the level of the binding station.

Means are provided for axially adjusting each arm on shaft 101, the split upper portions of the arms being spaced from each other for this purpose. This adjusting means includes a pair of adjusting nuts 102 and 103 at opposite ends of shaft 101, nut 102 being used to adjust bracket 98 and nut 103 to adjust bracket 99. The nuts are threadably mounted on shaft 101 and have shoulders which engage the adjacent surface of their respective arms, as well as retaining rings 104 which prevent relative axial movement between each nut and its respective arm but permits relative rotational movement therebetvveen. The enlarged head portion of each nut is split, as is indicated at 105 in FIG- URE 2, with 'a clamping screw 106 being provided at the split portion so that the nut may be secured in tight frictional engagement with shaft 101. With this arrangement, it will be seen that each arm 98 and 99 may be independently adjusted in an axial direction.

Each arm has a pair of downward extensions, these being indicated at 107 and 108 in FIGURE 2. These downward extensions rotatably support the right hand end of their respective guide roller. The forward and rear guide rollers have rightward extensions 109 leading from their supported portions, with pulleys 111 secured to the outer ends thereof.

The means for rotatably driving the forward and rear guide rollers comprises a drive shaft 112 which is connected to and extends rightwardly from pulley 61, as seen in FIGURES 1 and 2. This shaft passes through right hand frame plate 23 and is connected to a gear reduction mechanism 113, the output of which drives a pair of coaxial pulleys 114 and 115, as seen in FIGURE 2. Pulley 114 drives that pulley 111 (not seen in the figures) which is connected to rear guide roller 97, while pulley 115 drives that pulley 111 which is secured to forward drive roller 96. The direction of rotation is the same for both guide rollers so that they will impart a feeding direction or impetus to wire 28.

The three guide rollers are of substantially the same diameter and each has a smooth cylindrical surface which is interrupted by an equidistantly spaced series of circumferential guide slots 116, as indicated in FIGURES and 11. It should be pointed out that the pitch of the spiral binder will always be the same regardless of the coil diameter, but the helix angle will "vary with different coil diameters, becoming smaller as the coil diameter increases. The three guide rollers therefore need not be replaced when different spiral sizes are being used, and the spacing of slots 116 is equal to the pitch of the spirals. Slots 116 are concave in cross-sectional shape so as to receive and properly support the turns of wire, the wire itself of course having a circular cross section. The adjustment for different coil diameters is made by axial and radial movement of the guide rollers.

Guide rollers 96 and 97, in addition to being slotted and described above, are each provided with a pair of diametrically opposed longitudinally extending slots 117, as seen in FIGURES 10 and 11, which are substantially deeper than slots 116. These slots 117 interrupt the continuity of slots 116 in two different places. The result will be that as the guide rollers rotate and feed the wire, the radial pressure on the wire exerted by the guide rollers will be momentarily relieved twice during a full turn of each guide roller. It has been found that this intermittent momentary relief of radial pressure on the spiral wire will minimize the possibility of damage due to a jammed wire, allowing the wire to free itself.

Upper guide roller is not positively driven and is not provided with longitudinal slots 117. It is rotatably supported by a plate 118, seen in FIGURES 2 and 5, which is secured between the downward extensions 107 and 108 of bracket 98 and extends inwardly therefrom. The plate is supported by a shaft 119 which extends between and is secured to extensions 107 and 108. The portion of plate 118 which is supported by shaft 119 is split so that it may be clamped to shaft 119 in any of various angular positions, set screws 21 being provided for this purpose. The plate is also somewhat shorter than the shaft so that it may be adjusted angularly thereon.

The main portions of arms 98 and 99 are spaced apart, as seen in FIGURE 5, and an actuating cam 12 2 is disposed therebetween. This cam is mounted on a shaft 123 which is rotatably supported by plate 23 and carries a gear 124, as seen in FIGURE 2. Gear 124 is driven by a brake-andclutch assembly 125 mounted on plate 22. The input of assembly 125 is driven from pulley 59 through a pulley 126, and the output is coaxial with pulley 126 and constitutes a shaft 127 extending to the right, as seen in FIGURE 2. The right hand end of shaft 127 carries a gear 128 which drives a gear 129 mounted on a shaft 131, as seen in FIG- URE 9. Shaft 131 also has a smaller gear 132 which meshes with gear 124. The gear ratios are such that the speed of shaft 131 will be twice that of shaft 123. As will be described later in detail, shaft 131 carries a knife actuating cam 133, and the brake-and-clutch assembly 125 is so controlled that each time the clutch is engaged cam 123 will rotate and cam 122 will rotate 90.

Cam 122 is of elongated shape with fiat sides, and its successive rotations are between horizontal and vertical positions, the vertical position being seen in FIGURES 5 and 9. When in this position, arms 98 and 99 will be permitted to be brought together so as to bring guide rollers 95, 96 and 97 to their guiding positions. The means for bringing together arms 98 and 99 comprises a helical coil tension spring 134 which extends between arms 98 and 99 at the left hand end thereof as seen in FIGURE 2, being secured to the arms by pins 135. Each arm 98 and 99 carries an adjustable screw 136 which is threadably mounted therein, the outer end of this screw having a handle 137 and the inner end being rounded and engageable with cam 122. The two screws 136 are engageable with opposite sides of cam 122 and may be secured in their adjusted position by nuts 138. The positions of screws 136 will determine the radial distances of guide rollers 96 and 97 from the centerline of the binding station, this occurring when cam 122 is in its vertical position. With cairn 122 in its horizontal position, the inner ends of the screws will ride on the wide ends of the cam, and arms 98 and 99 will thus be spread apart, withdrawing guide rollers 96 and 97 from the binding station. Guide roller 95 will also move between guiding and withdrawn positions at the same time since it is carried by arm 98.

Clamping plate 94 is secured to the lower end of arm 98 and is therefore swingable toward and away from the binding station with arm 98; clamping plate 94 will tend to hold the upper portion of the pack tightly together so that the wire 28 may be more readily fed through the series of holes in the pack.

It may be mentioned at this point that an additional gear train comprising gears 139, 141, 142 and 143 may be provided for actuating certain cam-operated electrical switches which control the clutch-and-brake assembly 64 and other parts of the system. Suitable arrangements of such switches will become apparent from the description of operations set forth below, and it is not believed necessary to describe them in detail.

A pair of knife assemblies are provided for severing wire 28 at both ends of the spiral coil after it has been fed into the pack. These knife assemblies are located at opposite ends of the binding station, and are of similar construction, one of them being illustrated in FIGURES 6 and 7, and generally indicated at 144. Knife assembly 144 comprises two knife members 145 and 146, member 145 being forked and member 146 being pivoted at 147 to member 145 and being movable between the forked ends of member 145. A slot 148 is provided in the lower end of member 145 to receive wire 28, so that when member 146 swings clockwise from its FIGURE 7 position it will sever wire 28 between the two portions of member 145.

Member 145 has a mounting portion 149 which is fixed to a knife supporting arm 151, this arm extending rearwardly from the knife assembly and being pivoted at 152 to a knife actuating arm 153. There are two knife actuating arms 153, and they are secured in spaced relation to a knife actuating shaft 154. More particularly, each arm 153 is of somewhat L-shaped construction and may be clamped to shaft 154 in any desired position along its length by means of a split portion 155 and a clamping screw 156. Arm 151 is pivoted to the mid-portion of arm 153 and extends under the horizontal portion thereof. A bolt 157 is threadably mounted in the underside of the upper portion of each arm 153, this upper portion extending forwardly from shaft 154. Bolt 157 passes through an apertured portion 158 in arm 151, and the head of the bolt is disposed under arm 151, thus limiting its counterclockwise or downward movement as seen in FIGURE 6 with respect to arm 153.

The forward upper portion of each arm 153 has a diagonal cam slot 159, seen best in FIGURE 2. Slots 159 are forwardly open and receive roller 161 which are carried by the upper ends of movable knives 146. The relative positions of the knives and cam slots are such that when shaft 154 swings counterclockwise in FIGURE 6, moving slots 159 downwardly, knives 146 will be swung toward knives 145, severing a wire 28 which is being retained by slots 148. The camming movement is achieved by virtue of the fact that a stop bar 162 is provided, this stop bar extending between plates 22 and 23 below both arms 151 and being engageable thereby as shaft 154 swings counterclockwise in FIGURE 6. Normally, with arms 151 above stop 162, these arms will rest on the heads of bolts 157. During the counterclockwise movement, however, arms 151 will strike stop 162 and further rocking movements of arms 153 will cause clockwise rocking of arms 151 relative to arms 153 about fulcrums 152. This will cause rollers 161 to be shifted by the inclined slots 159.

The height of stop bar 162 may be preselected by means of an eccentric mounting 163 at both ends of the bar. This eccentric mounting comprises cylindrical bearing supports at the ends of the bar which are eccentric with respect to its axis. Rotational adjustment of bar 162 will therefore change the height at which arms 151 strike it. The knife assemblies may thus be adjusted to cut wire for different coil diameters.

As mentioned previously, knife assemblies 144 are actuated by means of a cam 133 which is driven from clutchand-brake assembly 125 through shaft 127 and gears 128 and 129. An arm 164 is rotatably mounted on shaft 154 and has a roller 165 engageable by cam 133, which is rotated 180 at a time. Arm 164 will therefore be actuated every other time cam 133 is actuated. A helical coil tension spring 166 is connected to the other end of arm 164 and urges the arm in a counterclockwise direction as seen in FIGURE 9. A handle 167 is connected to and extends downwardly from arm 164; this handle is for manual actuation of the knife assemblies.

Arm 164 is connected to shaft 154 by means of a lug 168 which is keyed to shaft 154, and a bolt 169 is threadably mounted in arm 164 and passes through an apertured portion 171 of lug 168. The head of bolt 169 engages the underside of lug 168, and actuation of arm 164 by cam 133 will pull the bolt head against the lug, rotating shaft 154. This rotation will be clockwise as seen in FIGURE 9 and counterclockwise as seen in FIGURE 6. The effective length of bolt 157 may be adjusted by threading the bolt into or out of the threaded hole in arm 153. This will vary the height of arm 151 and therefore permit adjustment of the knife cam drive for different coil diameters.

As cam 133 passes roller 165, arm 164 will be released and returned by spring 166. The knife assemblies 144 will therefore be withdrawn upwardly and returned to their open positions, since arms 151 will again drop with res ect to arms 153.

In operation, motor 56 will be energized and will drive clutch assembly 64 as well as clutch-and-brake assembly 125. With cam 122 in its horizontal position (arms 98 and 99 spread apart) and cam 133 less than 180 past the position in which it engages roller 165, the operator will hang a pack 77 of sheets and covers on the left and right hand hooks 76. He will then actuate clutch mechanism 64 and clutch-and-brake mechanism 125. The coiling tool 31 will be driven from clutch 64 to form a spiral coil, and at the same time cam 122 will be rotated to its vertical position, permitting arms 98 and 99 to come together by virtue of spring 134. This will cause upper guide roller as well as forward and rear guide rollers 96 and 97 to arrive at their guiding positions. Clamping plate 94 will also move to its clamping position, urging pack 77 against stop plate 93. A limit switch arrangement (not shown) driven by gears 141 to 143 will deactivate the clutch and actuate the brake in clutch-and-brake mechanism when cam 122 has rotated 90 and reaches its vertical position. Cam 133 will also rotate but will not actuate roller 16-5.

The coiled wire will be guided around and around as it passes successively through a series of aligned holes in pack 77. Guide rollers 96 and 97 will be positively driven while the wire is being fed through the holes by means of shaft 112 and the gearing, belt and pulley arrangernent described above. When the coil has been fed through the entire pack, coiling tool 131 will be stopped, either manually or by a limit switch arrangement, this being done by disengaging clutch 64.

The brake mechanism 125 will then be disengaged and the clutch engaged so as to rotate cam 133 through another 180 and cam 122 through 90. Cam 133 will cause shaft 154 to rock counterclockwise in FIGURE 6, and when arms 151 of the two knife assemblies strike stop 162, further rotation of shaft 154 will cause the knives to sever the ends of the wire immediately outwardly of the spiral binder. As cam 133 passes roller 165, arm 164 will be released and knife assemblies 144 will be retracted. The rotation of cam 122 will cause retraction of the guide rollers as well as clamping plate 94, and the bound book may then be lifted off hooks 76 and the next pack placed thereon.

As indicated above, a change in the coil diameter will necessitate adjustment of the coiling tool and guide rollers. According to the present invention, this may be done by axially adjusting forward and rear guide rollers 96 and 97 by means of nuts 102 and 103, respectively, and axially adjusting upper guide roller 95 by loosening and then tightening set screws 121, adjusting plate 118 on its supporting shaft.

The adjustment of coiling tool 31 may be accomplished by loosening bolts 42 and sliding tool body 32 along the path defined by slots 45 and 46. An example of such an adjustment is indicated in FIGURE 12, line 55 representing the path of movement of the axis of arbor 37. Coiling tool 31 will of course be replaced by one of a proper size. FIGURE 12 illustrates a larger circle and a smaller circle for the coil, indicated at 28 and 28 respectively. The illustration also shows in solid or dot-dash lines the positions of the guide rollers for the two coil diameters. It will be noted that guide rollers 96 and 97 will be adjusted along an arc determined by the distance from the axis of shaft 101. This can be done by merely rotating adjusting screws 136. Upper guide roller 95 will normally not be needed on a small diameter coil such as 28'.

It should be noted that the approximately inclination of line 55 ties in with the remaining structure, in that it will permit the coil center to be properly located for any coil diameter, without having to move the position of hook 76 or stop plate 93. Smaller diameter coils will of course be used with packs 77 of lesser thickness, and since the back of the pack will always be in the same position (against stop 93) the location of the front of the pack Will change with differing pack thicknesses.

While it will be apparent that the preferred embodiment of the invention disclosed is well calculated to fulfill the objects above stated, it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible to modification, variation and change without departing from the proper scope or fair meaning of the subjoined claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a spiral binder applying machine, a frame, a plurality of guide rollers extending across said frame, a binding station having means for removably supporting a pack of sheets and covers, said guide rollers being disposed adjacent said binding station, means rockably supporting said guide rollers for movement toward and away from said binding station, a coiling tool body at one end of said frame extending along an axis parallel to said guide rollers, and means adjustably securing said coiling tool body to said frame end, said adjustable securing means permitting adjustment of said coiling tool body along a path at right angles to said axis.

2. The combination according to claim 1, said adjustable securing means comprising a flange on said coiling tool body, a pair of elongated slots in said frame end, fasteners extending through said slots and securing said flange to said frame end, and an adjusting screw interconnecting said frame end and body.

3. The combination according to claim 1, said guide roller supporting means comprising a shaft, a pair of rms independently pivoted on said shaft, and means at the outer end of said arms rotatably supporting said guide rollers on opposite sides of said binding station.

4. In a spiral binder applying machine, a binding station, means at said binding station for removably supporting a pack of sheets and covers, a pair of guide rollers on opposite sides of said binding station, means for rotating said guide rollers, a shaft parallel to said guide rollers and spaced from said binding station, a pair of arms independently pivoted on said shaft, means at the outer end of said arms rotatably supporting said guide rollers, means for independently adjusting said guide rollers in an axial direction comprising first and second nuts threadably mounted on said shaft, and means rotatably but nonslidably connecting said nuts to said arms.

5. The combination according to claim 4, said nuts having split portions, and clamping screws threaded into 10 said nuts across said split portions, whereby the nuts may be clamped to said arm supporting shaft.

6. The combination according to claim 4, each of said arms comprising first and second axially spaced upper portions rotatably mounted on said shaft and first and second axially spaced lower portions rotatably supporting its respective guide roller.

7. The combination according to claim 4, further provided with means for simultaneously moving said guide rollers between retracted and operative positions, said means comprising a cam rotatably mounted between said arms, said cam having oppositely disposed high portions and oppositely disposed low portions, a cam follower mounted on each of said arms and engageable with said cam, each cam follower being adjustably sccurable to its respective arm, whereby the operative positions of said guide rollers relative to said binding station may be individually adjusted, and a spring connecting said arms and urging them toward each other.

8. The combination according to claim 4, further provided with a third guide roller disposed above and between the first two guide rollers, and means for adjustably supporting said third guide roller comprising a plate adjustably secured to one of said arms and extending into the space between said arms, said third guide roller being rotatably supported by said plate.

9. The combination according to claim 8, said one arm having a pair of spaced lower portions rotatably supporting its guide roller, and a shaft extending between said spaced roller portions, a portion of said plate being split and adjustably clamped to said last-mentioned shaft, the plate being shorter than said shaft whereby it may be adjusted both angularly and axially.

10. The combination according to claim 4, said guide rollers having axially spaced circumferentially extending guide slots, and at least one axially extending slot on each guide roller, said axially extending slot being deeper than said circumferentially extending slots, whereby the pressure on turns of a spiral wire engaged by said guide roller will be intermittently relieved when the guide roller rotates.

11. In a spiral binder applying machine, a frame with a: pair of horizontally spaced end members, a binding station, means at said binding station for supporting a pack of books and covers to be bound, a pair of knife assemblies at the ends of said binding station for severing the ends of a spiral wire, each of said knife assemblies comprising two relatively movable blades, first and second arms connected to the blades of each knife assembly, said arms being relatively movable from a first position holding said blades apart to a second position causing a severing action between said blades, a knife actuating shaft extending parallel to said binding station, one arm of each of pair of arms being secured to said shaft, said shaft being rockable While said blade arms are held in their first position to advance said knife assemblies to the ends of said spiral wire, and means for causing the arms for both knife assemblies to move simultaneously from their first to their second postion, said last-mentioned means comprising stop means engageable by the other arm of each pair of arms.

12. In a spiral binder applying machine, a frame with a pair of horizontally spaced end members, a binding station, means at said binding station for supporting a pack of books and covers to be bound, a pair of knife assemblies at the ends of said binding station for severing the ends of a spiral Wire, each of said knife assemblies comprising two relatively movable blades, first and second arms connected to the blades of each knife assembly, said arms being relatively movable from a first position holding said blades apart to a second position causing a severing action between said blades, and means for causing the arms for both knife assemblies to move simultaneously from their first to their second position, said last-mentioned means comprising a bar extending between 1 1 said end frame members andsimultaneously engageable by one arm of each pair of arms, said bar being eccentrically mounted in said frame members, whereby the positions of said arms when engaging said bar may be varied by rotating the bar.

13. In a spiral binder applying machine, a binding station, means at said binding station for supporting a pack of sheets and covers in binding position, a pair of knife assemblies at opposite ends of said binding station for severing a spiral wire, a knife actuating shaft extending parallel to said binding station, first and second knife actuating arms secured to said shaft and extending toward said binding station, a knife supporting arm pivota'lly secured to each of said knife actuating arms, means limiting the movement of each of said knife supporting arms away from its corresponding knife actuating arm, a knife assembly secured to each of said knife supporting arms, each of said knife assemblies comprising a pair of relatively movable blades, an extension on one blade, an inclined ca'm track on each of said knife actuating arms, a connection between each extension and its corresponding cam track whereby relative movement of the supporting and actuating arms will cause relative movement of the blades, and a bar disposed in the paths of movement of said knife supporting arms, whereby rocking of said knife actuating shaft will cause said knife assemblies to advance to the ends of said spiral wire and then to sever said ends.

14. The combination according to claim 13, further provided with means for rocking said knife actuating shaft comprising an arm fixed thereto, a second arm rotatably mounted on said knife actuating shaft, a one-way connection between said two arms, means for adjusting the length of said one-way connection, whereby the relative angularity between said knife actuating shaft and said second arm may be varied, and a rotatable cam intermittently engageable with said second arm, thereby causing momentary rocking of said first arm and said knife actuating shaft.

15. In a guide roller construction for a spiral binder applying machine, a cylindrical outer surface on said guide rollers, a plurality of evenly spaced circumferentially extending guide slots in said guide roller, and a plurality of circumferentially spaced longitudinally extending slots in said guide roller for intermittently relieving pressure on a spiral wire against which the guide roller presses, said longitudinally extending slots being substantially deeper than said circumferentially extending slots.

16. In a spiral binder applying machine of the type having a binding station with a pair of spaced hooks on which a pack of sheets and covers may be mounted, a hook construction and mounting means therefor comprising a hook supporting block having an upper flat surface inclined downwardly and away from the binding station, a hook having a curved pack supporting portion and a flat mounting portion resting on said inclined surface, an elongated slot in said fiat hook portion, a pin extending outwardly from said fiat block surface through said slot, whereby the hook position may be adjusted toward and away from the binding station, and clamping means for said hook comprising a recess in said block, a clamping member pivotally mounted in said recess, said clamping member having a first downwardly extending portion and a clamping portion disposed above said flat hook portion, the clamping member being pivoted to said block between said portions, and a clamping screw threadably mounted in said downwardly extending portion and engageable with the bottom of said block recess whereby said clamping portion will be pressed against said flat hook portion.

17. In a spiral binder applying machine, a frame, a plurality of guide rollers extending across said frame, a binding station having means for removably supporting a pack of sheets and covers, said guide rollers being disposed adjacent said binding station, means rockably supporting said guide rollers for movement toward and away from said binding station, a coiling tool body at one end of said frame extending along an axis parallel to said guide rollers, and means adjustably securing said coiling tool body to said frame end, said adjustable securing means permitting adjustment of said cooling tool body along a path at right angles to said axis and inclined approximately 20 from the vertical.

18. The combination according to claim 1, said adjustable securing means for the coiling tool body being in clined substantially less than from the vertical.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,168,865 8/1939 Fischer -9293 2,182,844 12/1939 Grumbacher 14092.94 2,300,544 11/ 1942 Freundlich 14092.4 2,963,049 12/1960 Biel et a1. 140-923 CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner.

L. A. LARSON, Assistant Examiner. 

